Though children face a lower risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19 than adults, many families have avoided getting health care for their children during the pandemic for fear that their children could be exposed to the coronavirus. Data from the Urban Institute’s April 2021 Health Reform Monitoring Survey indicate parents’ worries about exposure to the virus continued affecting children’s receipt of care in spring 2021, even as COVID-19 case rates fell from their peak. In April 2021, nearly 1 in 5 parents (19.4 percent) reported they had delayed or forgone care for their children under age 19 in the past 12 months over concerns about exposure to the virus; nearly 1 in 10 (9.2 percent) delayed or did not get care for their children in the past 30 days for this reason. Parents with family incomes below 250 percent of the federal poverty level were more likely than those with higher incomes to report delaying or forgoing care for their children in the past 30 days. Not receiving needed care can adversely affect children’s health in the short and long terms.
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